Do Students Really Benefit From Wireless Classrooms?

Essay by tdesando86College, UndergraduateA, July 2006

download word file, 5 pages 3.7

Introduction

The days of being tied to a desktop PC are over, and the age of the laptop has taken over. Flexibility and mobility have now become absolute standards for using technology in education. In this discourse, several topics will be discussed: first, defining what exactly wireless is; focusing on the two main types of wireless networks that are used today; second, the usage of wireless technology will be discussed, focusing in on specifically how school are suing wireless networks to benefit their students; and last, the Pros and Cons of wireless networking will be discussed, focusing on both the positive and negative sides of setting up and using a wireless network system.

Wireless: Defined

Wireless was an old-fashioned term for a radio receiver, referring to its use as a wireless telegraph; but in today's day and age, wireless is a term used to refer to network-type communications that take place without physical connections (wires), such as in cell phone networks and wireless broadband Internet.

The two most common forms of wireless networks are Bluetooth and Wifi.

According to the official Bluetooth website (2006), Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices like personal digital assistants (PDA), mobile phones, laptops, PCs, and printers via secure, low-cost short range radio frequencies. Bluetooth lets these devices talk to each other when they come in range, even if they are not in the same room, as long as they are within up to 100 meters (or 30 feet) of each other, dependent on the power class of the product.

From the information obtained at the website HowStuffWorks.com (2006), Wifi was originally intended to be used for mobile devices and Local Area Networks, but is now often used for Internet access. It enables a person with a wireless-enabled computer or...